To develop next-generation low cost electric vehicles (EVs), a fundamental revamp of today's lithium-ion battery chemistry is desired. Current battery cost for EVs is still too expensive for making EVs competitive. It is therefore desired to develop electrode materials with high specific capacity and low cost. Over the past few years, much effort has been devoted to developing various high capacity electrode materials such as lithium metal and silicon anodes, as well as sulfur and air cathodes. Among the various electrode materials, lithium metal is attractive for next-generation high-energy-density batteries, since it has the highest specific capacity and the lowest anode potential in lithium-based batteries. Development of lithium metal anode is also desired for Li-Sulfur and Li-Air batteries, which potentially can offer about 5-10 times higher specific energy than today's lithium-ion batteries. However, lithium metal anodes can suffer from dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency, and thus remain a roadblock for future battery applications.
It is against this background that a need arose to develop the self-healing polymers described herein.